Turks

Do you people seriously have nothing better to do than write me nasty emails? Just because I have not written anything for the past week, this does not give you license to become vulgar and slanderous. I'm sorry I took away the only bright spot in your otherwise droll lives. My bad. I'm back.

Today's post concerns the future. Tomorrow, I will be holding a strings competition for my 7th through 10th grade students. They will be competing in the first ever "Turk Awards". I have crafted some rather nifty awards which I will put up pictures of tomorrow. Also there will be a small prize to accompany the award, probably movie passes or something of that nature. 

The students have been divided into duets, trios, and quartets. They will be judged on how well they play technically and on how well they interpret their assigned piece. Judging the competition will be my fantastic brother, probably my beautiful wife, and me. This is the first time I have ever put on something like this. It should be a lot of fun. 

Tomorrow's post will have pics of the awards as I finish making them. On Friday, I hope to have a short video montage of the competition. It's shaping up to me a pretty good week after all.

Brothers

It's a little late for Mother's day, but I laughed a lot at this video. 

Sometimes, nature is just fascinating

Okay kids, lesson time. Violence is bad. Punching, kicking, biting and the like are not actions we condone on this blog. With that said, enjoy this documentary about some of the most amazing creatures created by God.

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

Count 'em: 1-2-3

Today, my beautiful wife and I celebrate our third anniversary. At the first anniversary, we were still in our honeymoon phase. Life was wonderful and lovey dovey. For our second anniversary, we had no money, but we were in love. Life was wonderful and lovey dovey. Now that we have reached our third year, things are different. We have even less money now. Life is more wonderful. And we are still madly in love (and by that, I mean that we are still infatuated with one another.) Our love (the verb kind) is stronger than ever, and we are both getting better at it. To top it all off, we have achieved a small level of legitimacy. A marriage that has lasted for three years is a pretty amazing thing these days. 

I credit God with getting us this far. Before we got married, I received two pieces of advice that have made all the difference.  The first, which has helped us in our infrequent arguments, is something my in-laws told us. They said, "Remember, when you two are married, you have each other. It's you two against the world. Other people are going to come and go, but you will have each other. When things get tough, it's you two, together, as one, against the world." 

The second best piece of advice I was given was to pray. Pray every day that God would help me fall more in love with my wife, and that I would be most attracted to her; that in my eyes, she would be the most beautiful woman in the world. I love her more now than ever, and I have never seen anyone more beautiful.

Three years of marriage? Yeah, I'd recommend it.

My first concert

This past semester I have been teaching strings to kindergarten through tenth grade. That's right, violin, viola, and cello skills are also part of my repertoire. From the end of January to last night, I have been instructing them in the ways of the musical artist. Over and over again I have drilled theory, composers, and music into their heads. They have spent the past three and a half months training, preparing, and studying to be concert performers.

Last night, my little padawans displayed their newfound talents magnificently. We started off the program with a rousing rendition of "Hot Cross Buns", that song that evokes memories of yesteryear. From there, "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Mozart Serenade" dazzled the audience and finished up the kindergarten through third grade class. The fourth through sixth graders rocked the house with "Classical Bash", a compilation of classical themes. And finally, my junior high and high school orchestra serenaded the audience with "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Autumn" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. 

God really blessed me with a great first concert. The kids did an excellent job, and their parents seemed happy. But, for now, I think this will be my last concert as well.

Yeeeek

Strings concert tonight. Should be amazing. Details tomorrow.

iPhone home

First of all, I love my iPod. Second, I wish I had an iPhone. Third, I wish AT&T wasn't the carrier for the iPhone, because frankly, they have horrible coverage. Fourth, this commercial, that will never be, is funny.

As much fun as the mall

My beautiful wife got off work early last night. Instead of watching a movie, or playing with Turk, or something normal, we had some fun with Photobooth. Good times. 

Jumble of news

Short post today, sorry. I should have more for the rest of the week. Anyway, here is a quick update on life along with my thoughts. I am going to med school starting in August. My beautiful wife is now a professional nanny. We may move. We may not. We have been blessed with great jobs. We have an adorable puppy named Turk. We do not have kids. I like that for now. I played basketball in high school. I lost in a basketball shooting contest on Saturday to a fourth grader. I have my first strings concert next Monday. It is also my last concert. My students sound amazing. My headphones for my iPod went kaput so now I ride my bike in silence. Thirty miles is a long time to listen to the wind. Wolverine is a good movie. But not great. My wife has the most beautiful laugh. I need a new blue pen. Fifth graders can be devious. Arizona is hot in the summer.

A new me

I decided to see what I would like if I went in for cosmetic surgery on a bad hair day. This is the result. Before on the left, after on the right. Cool.